


The Next Great Adventure

by stardustandswimmingpools



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Almost everyone is mentioned, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Bittersweet Ending, Brotherly Love, Canonical Character Death, Death Isn't As Big A Deal As It Maybe Should Be, Friendship, Gen, Guess That's What Happens When Your BFF Literally Married Death, Magnus Burnsides Deserves The World, Missing Scene, Not A Fix-It, Taako and Kravitz are married, Team as Family, everything turns out the same, i guess it's more like, it just seemed logical? this is so far in their futures, like happy angst, not as sad as it could have been, uhh kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 07:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15944816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustandswimmingpools/pseuds/stardustandswimmingpools
Summary: To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.-Albus DumbledoreMagnus is given a choice.





	The Next Great Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> i finished the Balance arc, and i'm not kidding, about thirty minutes ago, and this hit me directly on the head and wouldn't leave me alone, so I wrote it. It's doesn't really change canon, just sorta adds to it a little. and yes, i did cry at magnus's entire finale. twenty minutes straight.  
> i love that dumbledore quote and i think it just so perfectly fits the essence of this fic  
> anyhow - please enjoy!

The world turns hazy, and then blurry, and then blank, and then — it clears. And in front of Magnus is Kravitz, with one hand outstretched.

Magnus takes it.

“I have a feeling,” Kravitz says, “this one’s going to take.”

Something swells inside of Magnus’s chest, pushing through years of stagnation and irrelevance, and for a second he’s blindsided by the singular thought:  _ Julia. _

It’s not that he never thinks about her. He’s always thinking about her. He’s holding her ring. But it’s the first time he thinks about her in anticipation — it’s the first time since Refuge. It’s the first time since he last died.

“I sure hope so,” he says. “Don’t want to get you in trouble with the boss.”

Kravitz chuckles. They start to move; Magnus feels the moment his sort of soul, his spirit leaves his physical body and becomes...energy. But then, seconds later, Kravitz halts.

“Oh,” he says slowly. “Wait.” His expression changes. It looks...somber. “Oh, Magnus. I forgot.”

_ No, no, _ Magnus thinks,  _ don’t forget, what did you forget? I’m dying, I’m dead, game over, I lose. _

“You...you get a choice,” Kravitz says. “I made a promise...part of the deal I struck with the Raven Queen. Taako asked me…”

Fucking Taako. “Taako asked you  _ what, _ ” Magnus says forcefully.

Kravitz looks at him, point-blank. “He asked me to give you a second chance. You and Merle, both. A choice. To live again. To come back — just once. A swan song, as it were.”

Magnus swallows thickly.

“I think you’d better talk to them about this,” Kravitz adds. He looks like he’s trying very hard not to say something.

He vanishes, and at the same exact moment, in the prime material plane Magnus had just begun to leave, he sees the bodies of Taako and Merle seize up and their spirits yank themselves out and up.

“Magnus,” Taako says, blinking. “Wait, am I dead?”

“If you are, then I am too,” Merle grumbles.

“Taako, Kravitz said you called in a favor,” Magnus says. “Care to explain? Just conveniently forgot?”

Realization dawns on Taako’s face. He grins. “Oh, that! You know, I’m gonna be honest, I completely forgot about that. That was forever ago, hot damn! Listen — I asked Kravitz to give you both a chance to come back. I thought you might die by accident, Mags, no ulterior motives, my man. Thought you might want a chance to, oh, I don’t know, come back and say goodbye. But obviously —” He gestures down at the world, “— that won’t be necessary.”

Magnus squints at him.

“But hey,” Taako adds. “Listen, if you want to come back, Kravitz promised and I will totally withhold sexual favors if he doesn’t deliver.”

“Gross,” Merle interjects loudly.

“So it’s up to you,” Taako finishes.

Magnus stares.

“I could come back?” he echoes.

Taako nods. “Yeah, if you want to. Just once, though, don’t go dying all over the place, it’s a one-time offer.”

“Wait, you did this for me too?” Merle says suddenly.

Taako huffs exasperatedly. “No need to sound so surprised, shortstop. It’s almost like I care about you guys or something. Fuck.”

“That’s real sweet of you, Taaksie,” says Merle, and makes a very pitiful effort to ruffle his hair.

“I have never been more glad that you are the approximate dimensions of a large microwave because if you mess up my hair, even the astral projection of my hair, I will fireball your ass,” Taako says offhandedly.

Magnus gets the sense that the clock is ticking here. He wrings his hands. “Taako, listen,” he says. Taako and Merle look at each other, and Magnus knows they know what he’s about to say. “I...I really wish...I really wish I could say that I would love to come back. You guys are my family. My brothers. I wouldn’t trade that on purpose for anything. But I’m, you know, I died. I’m dead.”

“You don’t have to be,” Merle chimes in.

“No, I do. And I get it, if you guys are mad at me, but I think I’ve always had a foot in both worlds. I tried my best to just live and make my life the best it could be while I was alive. I hope I did you guys proud. But I can’t come back. I’m sorry, Taako. I really appreciate —”

Taako waves him away. “Maggie, I get it. You’ve got the missus waiting.”

Magnus closes his eyes tightly when tears sting behind them. “I really love you idiots, you know that?”

“Yeah, you’re alright,” Merle says gruffly.

Magnus sweeps them up in a hug, and for just a moment, his heart hurts with how much he’s going to miss them.

“Look, I’ll probably see you,” Taako says reasonably, once he’s been released and is meticulously adjusting his hair. “I mean, I am married to death himself.”

“Yeah, and I’ll just bother this one ‘til he lets me come along,” Merle adds, but he’s swiping at tears. It won’t be for awhile that they see each other like this again.

Magnus isn’t stupid. Elves live almost eight times longer than humans; dwarves, almost five times. He’s got some time to kill.

“Magnus?”

“Yeah?”

“Just...I hope you’re really, really happy,” Taako says, smiling in that patented Taako way, the kind that looks like he’s plotting something and he’s thinking about letting you in on it, but not quite yet.

Merle pats Magnus on the kneecap and says, “And I hope you have a  _ real _ nice reunion with your wife, if you catch my drift.” He winks.

“Okay, and that would be our cue,” Taako says, grabbing Merle by the collar. He pauses and then salutes Magnus. “See ya on the other side, big guy.”

“It’s been real,” Merle says.

They fade out of sight and Magnus sees, down below, time unfreeze as Taako and Merle shake themselves out and stare at Magnus’s bedridden body. Angus is crying. Carey is, too. Merle waddles over to Angus, yanks on his shirt, and whispers something in his ear, and Angus’s eyes widen. His crying altogether ceases, and for a moment he glances upward, in the general direction of where Magnus is suspended, halfway between life and death. Then the kid leans towards Magnus’s physical body and speaks in his ear, and Magnus hears, clear as day:

“I’ll see you real soon, Magnus.”

And then that human son of a bitch, who’s all grown up now and almost, oh, 60 years old, sits back and actually smiles.

Kravitz reappears. “You’re still here,” he observes.

“Don’t act surprised,” Magnus says.

Kravitz shrugs. “I’m not surprised that you’re so at peace with the whole dying thing. I just...well, to be honest, I expected you to jump at the chance for a few extra years.”

Magnus shakes his head. “I’m done running,” he says. “I want to see her. I waited this long. I’ve earned it.”

Kravitz gives him a smile and takes his hand once more. “My friend, I can’t argue with that.”

Magnus does look back, despite himself. Taako has one arm around Angus and one around Merle; Merle is sort of pressed into Lucretia’s side, and Lucretia is holding a quiet conversation with Davenport. Killian is reassuring Carey; Carey shows no signs of letting up with the waterworks. Lup and Barry have their arms around each other, chattering softly; Magnus expects to see them soon enough. And he realizes that, for the first time, he has everything he’s ever wanted, and everyone he will ever need.

 

**Author's Note:**

> can i just say that i, for one, am glad Balance is over? i don't think i could have taken another second of emotional distress about Magnus, who has been pretty much the only cause for me crying in the entire podcast. like i'm glad they'll come back for live shows and special eps and stuff but jesus, enough with the FEELINGS and shit. anyway - my tumblr is [@vivilevone](http://vivilevone.tumblr.com) so stop by there and talk to me! but don't like spoil the rest of TAZ because i JUST finished Story & Song part 3 i haven't started anything after that. cheers!


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